Cananea Union Threatens To Retake Copper Mine

From 2007 to 2010, Section 65 of Mexico’s National Miner’s Union effectively shut down the Buenavista del Cobre copper mine in Cananea, Sonora, one of the largest in the world. Federal police helped break that strike.

Now the union is threatening to shutter the mine again, starting Dec. 1. That’s the first day of incoming President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s new administration.

“The commitment of the new government is that there be justice for the miners,” said Antonio Navarrete, spokesman for the union.

The mine’s owner, Grupo Mexico, restarted operations in 2010 and a new union began representing its workers in 2011. A company spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.